New York state selling used morgue refrigerator on eBay

NEW YORK, June 2 (UPI) -- The New York Office of Mental Health is selling on eBay a used morgue refrigerator from a Manhattan psychiatric ward, an official said.

About a day after the item was first posted on the auction website, the price was at $1,050.

The eBay listing describes the refrigerator as "used" with "signs of cosmetic wear" but "fully operational," the New York Post reported Saturday.

Heather Groll, a spokeswoman for the Office of General Services said she's never seen a government agency sell a morgue cooler.

"Every once in a while, we get an unusual item -- and this would be that," she said. "Whoever buys it would have to come pick it up, so he or she would have to have some familiarity with [refrigerators] like that."

She said the cooler would have to be dismantled to be removed from the room where it is currently housed in the Manhattan Psychiatric Center.

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